For many years surgical procedures inside the urinary bladder have been performed with an instrument called a "resectoscope", which is passed through the urethra (passageway for urine from the bladder to outside the body through the penis or vagina). This procedure has been performed with much greater frequency in the older male population due to the presence of a prostatic gland peculiar to the male. There are two different types of resectoscope apparatus, with distinctive differences:
(1) The non-continuous flow type (most widely used), usually referred to as the "regular" resectoscope. This regular resectoscope has a light source, a cutting electrode, a viewing lens system, and an irrigation system to fill and distend the bladder.
(2) The continuous flow type (C.F. resectoscope), which has all the systems of the regular resectoscope, with the addition of a vacuum port for the removal of surgical exudate fluids mixed with a continuing-flow irrigating liquid.
The usual continuous flow system employs a transfer pump for transfer of liquid, with a preset non-variable pressure, into an open container or bucket which requires dumping several times during a surgical procedure, with consequent delays of said procedure. The use of an open container is undesirable because it can cause cross-contamination of the room, the personnel, and the patient, and carries the risk of causing further cross-contamination between the janitorial dumping area and the urinary surgical area. The flow rate is invariable, being usually between 800 and 900 ml/min. The only control over the pressure is guesswork by the operator in limiting the orifice at the resectoscope discharge connection. By doing this it detracts from the potential full effectiveness of the continuous flow resectoscope and requires continual height adjustment of the gravity-feed infusion irrigation bottles. Furthermore, the C.F. resectoscope transfer pump is electric motor-driven, usually employing an extension cord. This adds to existing electrical hazards in the operating room. Also, airborne bacteria can be harbored in the housing of the apparatus and can be spread about the room by the action of the motor cooling fan. In addition, the transfer pump housing will be bathed in surgical fluid, grossly contaminated and used or shared by different patients, and ordinarily is not dismantled and cleaned between successive cases.
Variations of the previously used vacuum continuous flow systems have employed a number of receiving bottles to collect the flow, for example, five or six bottles (about 2000 ml each in volume) requiring only to be dumped or replaced two or three times during a procedure. Again, this tends to cause contamination associated with dumping, surgical delay while reestablishing reservoir space, and distraction of staff personnel from more critical duties. Over the years, the American Hospital Accreditation, several state regulatory agencies and infectious control groups have been making efforts to close or seal off the open floor drains in the urological surgical rooms. This has been met with much opposition because there has not existed a satisfactory collecting system. Some states have had these drains sealed, leaving the OR staff searching for a solution.
A preliminary search of the patented prior art revealed the following prior U.S. patents of interest:
______________________________________ Erikson 2,597,715 Deaton et al 3,848,628 Folkman et al 3,529,599 Vaillancourt et al 3,861,396 Pannier et al 3,680,560 Ayres 3,874,367 Reynolds et al 3,685,517 Kaplan et al 3,908,660 Sorenson et al 3,704,709 De Wall 3,946,735 Pannier et al 3,719,197 Friend 3,982,546 Ikeda 3,845,765 ______________________________________